As one of the oldest supermarkets in the Western region, particularly Busia County, Tesia Supermarket has managed to maintain its competitive edge
The supermarket’s humble beginnings trace back to a small kiosk owned by John Maina Kariuki and his wife.
Having resided in Busia for several decades, the couple decided to create a livelihood to sustain themselves by opening a small kiosk at the turn of the 21st Century.
Initially, they stocked fast-moving goods to meet the demands of their local community.
“At the time, we only sold a limited range of small items including foodstuffs, a handful of cosmetics and household items,” Mrs. Maina recalled.
Like every other grass-to-grace story, John Maina states that establishing the kiosk was the crucial cornerstone they needed to lay in order to turn their dreams into a reality.
“The first block of this supermarket was cast years ago when we opened doors to our customers as a small kiosk,” he said.
As years passed, their business thrived and the couple continued to stock more varieties of products. Before long, the kiosk became too small to accommodate all their supplies.
The ever-growing demand necessitated a larger space. The couple needed to devise a new strategy to better serve their clients.
Wesonga: Little-known owner of Hotel Itoya, one of Busia biggest hotels
Taking a leap of faith, they decided to demolish their small kiosk and build a high-rise structure that would later become renowned as Tesia Supermarket.
The first supermarket store was opened in Busia. John Kariuki serves as the company CEO, while his wife is the manager.
Their expansion investment paid off as the newly opened large outlet quickly gained traction among the Busia shoppers and also the window shopping faithfuls.
In addition to retailing goods, clothing, furniture, pastries and other household items, the fast-expanding multi-million empire ventured into the food industry, launching Tesia Restaurant.
Challenges Faced
As with all things in life, it’s never a straight path to the epitome of success. Tesia Supermarket has faced numerous challenges.
John Maina attributes most of their challenges to external factors beyond their control.
They include increased operational costs; for example when they’d have to switch to private power during electrical outages.
“To ensure we stay in business and guard against some of our perishable goods from going bad, we have had to resort to diesel generators,” he said.
Another challenge has been the ever-deteriorating Kenyan economy, fuelled by inflation and consequently weakening the Kenyan shilling.
Dietrich Mateschitz: Austrian billionaire’s entrepreneurial journey in globalizing Red Bull
For Tesia Supermarket, business profit margins have not been good as the economy has greatly impacted its clients’ purchasing power.
“As a result of the high prices, more people are cutting back on monthly shopping as they budget for strictly essential household commodities,” Mrs. Maina noted.
In 2019, Tesia Supermarket, Khetia’s supermarkets, Frank Matt Highway and Frontier were banned from selling, displaying or even cooking meat products by Napoleon Nyongesa.
The latter claimed that these supermarkets did not comply with the Food, Drug and Chemical Substances Act.
“We have all licenses from relevant authorities mandating our operations. The department should go ahead and shut down the meat segment of those outlets that have not complied,” John Maina hit back at the County Public Health Officer.